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Latin America to be affected by long war in
Iraq
The Latin
American and Caribbean economy could suffer
losses seven to 42 billion US dollars because
of the United States-led war against Iraq, the
Latin American Economic System (LAES) said
Monday.
Giovanni Reyes,
LAES permanent secretary, said this on the
first day of the seminar: "Discussion on
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA),"
which is being held in the Caracas office of
LAES.
Preliminary
estimates by the regional organization
indicated the war impact on the region's
economy would be large and prolongation of the
war, which began last Wednesday, would
influence the energy market.
Reyes said
Central America, the Caribbean states and
Mexico would be the most seriously affected by
the war, because the United States is the
natural destination of many of their exports.
Member
countries of the South American Common Market
(MERCOSUR) have a greater diversity of markets
and do not depend so much on the United
States, yet, they could suffer from the rising
oil prices, he added. The official insisted on
the importance of integration of
Latin-American and Caribbean countries, and
the coordination of their positions in
negotiating free trade agreements such as the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
If they
"were united and kept a common position
in the FTAA negotiation, it would have the
economic weight of 2.1 trillion dollars, which
is the value of the regional production,"
he said.
Reyes pointed
out that the FTAA could offer more
opportunities to Latin American and Caribbean
countries, because it would allow them a
greater access to the markets of developed
countries.
UN Security
Council to hold open meeting on Iraq
The
United Nations Security Council will hold an
urgent public meeting on Iraq on Wednesday at
the request of the Non-Aligned Movement and
the Arab League, council president Mamady
Traore said Tuesday.
The meeting
will start at 3:00 p.m. EST (20:00 GMT)
Wednesday and is expected to extend into
Thursday due to a long list of speakers,
Traore, ambassador of Guinea to the UN, told
reporters after council consultations on
Western Sahara.
Traore
confirmed that the two organizations wrote to
him proposing the urgent session to allow UN
member states to air their views on the
situation in Iraq.
The Non-Aligned
Movement had called two council public
meetings on Iraq this year, both of which
brought together speakers from over 50
countries without a seat on the Security
Council.
Traore said
experts of the council's Sanctions Committee
are still working on a draft resolution
concerning humanitarian assistance to the
war-plagued Iraqi population.
The council has
agreed to discuss the draft at the
ambassadorial level at 10:00 a.m. EST (15:00
GMT) Wednesday, he said, adding that he hoped
consensus could be reached then.
He noted that
UN experts have met Saturday and Monday on the
proposals by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to adjust the oil-for-food program so as to
meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the
Iraqi people.
Annan
recommended the council adopt a resolution
giving him interim authority to administer the
humanitarian oil-for-food program, which has
been run jointly by the Iraqi government and
the United Nations.
He also asked
for council authority to reach arrangements on
humanitarian relief with the post-war
authority in Iraq.
The proposals
drew strong criticisms from the Iraqi side,
which accused Annan of helping the United
States and Britain snatch its oil resources
and declared its total rejection of such
proposals.
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